Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Bergen County Police Chiefs Association holds second Blue Mass to honor those in law enforcement who have given their lives in the line of duty.
Police from all over Bergen County gathered for the second annual Blue Mass honoring law enforcement officers who gave their lives in the line of duty during a service at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Ridgewood Wednesday morning. Fairview Chief of Police Frank Delvecchio established the mass last year as a way to honor those police officers who have given their lives in service to the residents of Bergen County. "The mass came about as a way to include God in remembering and honoring those police officers who have served and gave their lives in the line of duty, or have served and passed," Delvecchio said. A lone police officer's hat, a tri-folded American flag and a single red rose were placed on the altar representing the ultimate…
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Driver faces weapons possession and terroristic threats charges after Route 4 confrontation, Bergen County Police say.
Bergen County Police have charged a 19-year-old jitney bus driver with pulling a baseball bat and threatening a competitor on Route 4 west in Teaneck Tuesday. A driver from Genesis Bus Lines called 911 around 6 p.m. to report a driver from a rival company was swinging a baseball bat at him, according to Bergen County Police Lt. James Mullin. Both drivers left the area after the confrontation. County officers found the buses on Route 4 west, near Forest Avenue in Paramus, and learned that Ariel Paulino, a driver with Spanish Transportation, was making physical and verbals threats to the other driver, police said. "It was also determined Paulino did in fact brandish and swing a baseball bat to intimidate the other driver," Mullin said, …
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Woman fell about 20 feet from the highway, officials say.
Teaneck emergency responders rescued a 42-year-old woman who tumbled down an embankment while she walked along Route 4 early Saturday, officials said. The woman reportedly ran out of gas and called a friend for help, police said. The two walked to get gas at a station nearby in Hackensack, but when the friend got back he noticed the woman was no longer with him. He found her yelling for help near the Fairleigh Dickinson University baseball field, according to police. The friend tried helping her up, but ultimately called authorities around 7 a.m. An emergency medical technician from the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps went down the 30 foot embankment to care for the woman and township firefighters cut away fencing around the bottom of…
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Inspectors to spread out across Bergen County and authorities will have “zero tolerance” for fraudulent home repair companies and contractors, the Bergen County Executive said.
Officials will inspect contractors working on repairs in areas slammed by Superstorm Sandy as part of a new county police-led task force designed to protect homeowners from storm-related scams, the county executive announced Tuesday. “My administration will have zero tolerance for fraudulent home improvement companies or any contractor or company that seeks to take advantage of vulnerable people suffering from the terrible tragedy that hit our county,” Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan said in a statement. Led by County Police Capt. Victor F. Cuttitta Jr., the task force will include officials from the Consumer Affairs and Consumer Protections offices. Inspectors will fan out across Bergen County, with special attention given to …
Monday, November 12, 2012
Four people treated for minor injuries and 22-year-old woman charged after Route 4 crash late Sunday, according to county police.
A drunk driver turned herself in to county police hours after she fled the scene of an accident on Route 4 that left four people injured late Sunday, authorities said. Police were called to the crash, near Queen Anne Road, around 11 p.m. and found a 2008 Honda Civic with heavy damage facing westbound in the eastbound lanes, according to Bergen County Police Lt. James Giblin. The second vehicle, a 2012 Chrysler minivan, was found nearby. Two people in the minivan suffered minor injuries and were taken to Englewood hospital, while two passengers in the Honda were also treated for minor injuries at Holy Name Medical Center. Witnesses told officers the Honda's driver fled on foot down Queen Anne Road, police said. A county police K-9 unit …
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Effort to disband Bergen County Police Department failed with a 3-2 vote.
Bergen County Freeholder John Driscoll released a statement Friday explaining why he opted to abstain from a hotly-debated vote on folding the county police department into the sheriff's office. The freeholders on Wednesday voted 3-2 to reject an ordinance that would have eliminated the 89-member county police department. Freeholder Joan Voss also abstained. Driscoll's full statement is below: “I want to take this opportunity to give my reason for my abstention vote on the County Police ordinance. I have sat and watched as this ever import issue was batted around over the last few months. Since July I have been calling for the three leaders of law enforcement in Bergen County to come together on this issue. I believe that there are…
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Effort to eliminate county police department is defeated in 3-2 vote.
The Bergen County Freeholders on Wednesday voted against an ordinance to disband the county’s 89-member police department and merge it with the sheriff’s office, northjersey.com reported. The vote came after more than a year of debate, two studies and legal action. In a 3-2 vote with two abstentions, the board nixed the ordinance after initially approving it on first reading in August with a 4-2 vote. County Executive Kathleen Donovan, a strong supporter of the county police, had vowed to veto a vote to disband the department and called the idea “idiotic” at a freeholder work session. Freeholders Maura DeNicola and Robert Hermansen voted against the merger, along with Freeholder David Ganz, who first voted for the measure in August. …
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Chief says 18 charged with crimes including drugs, illegal gambling.
- POLICE & FIRE
- Noah Cohen
-
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Authorities have charged 18 people from around the region as part of a months long investigation into drug sales, gambling and violent crime in the Englewood-area. One of those nabbed in the sweep was a seasonal parks worker who was dealing ecstasy from a concession stand in Englewood's Mackay Park, City Police Chief Arthur O'Keefe said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. City resident Shameeka Drakeford, 29, sold "mollies," a pure form of ecstasy, in a park busy with children, police said. Also charged were alleged Teaneck drug dealers Durelle Whitening and his Cedar Lane neighbor, 31-year-old Anthony Trumpet. Whitening, 28, was the gunman in a Sept. 9 shooting incident in Teaneck, according to the county prosecutor's office. …
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Former Bergen County prosecutor, executive, sheriff and police chief argue that merging the county police and sheriff's offices may actually cost taxpayers more
Three former Bergen County officials threw their support behind the Bergen County Police Department in an ongoing debate about whether or not the department should be merged with the Sheriff’s Department. Former Bergen County Executive William “Pat” Schuber, former County Prosecutor Jay Fahy, and Joel Trella, who served both as the county Sheriff and the BCPD Chief, held a press conference at the Bergen County Law and Public Safety Institute in Mahwah Tuesday afternoon to argue against a proposed ordinance that would disband the BCPD and incorporate some of its functions into the Sheriff’s Department. The three argued against points that have been presented by supporters of the merger — namely that it would be a cost savings to the county …
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Bergen County Police say the remote control evidence recovery robot is one of only a half dozen in the county and provides a valuable shared service that local municipalities likely couldn't afford on their own.
An underwater robot the size of a microwave has found its way into the crossfire of a divisive county-wide debate. This week, the Bergen County Police Department’s Water Search and Recovery Unit showed off its new SeaBotix LBV-200-4 Mini ROV — a robot designed to assist the 15-person unit in underwater search and recovery. During a demonstration at the lower lake of the Ramapo Reservation in Mahwah this week, BCPD Sgt. Mark Tiedemann showcased the remote-control device, which sends a video feed from underwater to its operator on dry land. County police conducted the demonstration in the long shadow of a debate over whether or not the county’s police department — and its specialty units like the WSAR — will continue to exist on their own or…
Diane Schwarz
2:34 pm on Thursday, April 4, 2013
Are the drivers paid by how many passengers they carry? Would THAT be legal? Why else would the driver CARE? more ›